Mount Union’s marching band performs at a home football game under the direction of Mr. Tyler Dixon.
By LILLIAN BOOKHEIMER | Journalism Student, Mount Union Area Senior High School
Mount Union, Pa. — Tyler Dixon, Mount Union Area High School band teacher, is hoping to expand the marching band. He’s working hard to get more students involved and bring back excitement for the program.
The marching band is an integral part of football season, performing at halftime to lift school spirit and support the team. Since the band was small when he started, Mr. Dixon has been focusing on new recruitment ideas to help it grow. He explained, “We invite prospective students to join us in the Memorial Day parade as an intro to marching band.” One of his main goals has been to create more consistency within the program. Students are also invited on trips such as attending a Curve game or visiting the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire to help build interest.
Currently, Mr. Dixon is working to rebuild the perception of the marching band and show students that it’s possible to balance it with other activities. He elaborated, “I have worked with many different students’ schedules and proved that you can do marching band alongside other sports and other activities. There is no reason a student shouldn’t be able to participate in the activities they enjoy. Marching band is important for a variety of reasons. It is a very visible activity in the community. The band performs at many different events and parades, supports our teams, and brings music and entertainment. A larger band allows us to play a harder and more intricate repertoire.”
In addition to rebuilding the band’s image, Mr. Dixon also wants students to understand the benefits of joining. Marching band can teach patience and discipline. The activity is a lot of work and moving around on the field can be rigorous. Playing an instrument has been proven to help with academics and make individuals smarter. Plus, the complex choreography on the field develops skills that can be carried over to other activities. “Being in band provides you an opportunity to learn something that you can continue to do for the rest of your life,” he explained.
With Mr. Dixon focused on growing the program, recruiting new members has become even more important as several seniors prepare to graduate. Many of the seniors this year have been a very important part of marching band for most of their high school experience. The seniors graduating this year will leave a big hole to fill. Mr. Dixon stated, “Their level of musicianship and camaraderie will be missed.” The current marching band seniors have worked very hard throughout the three years they have been participating in band. All three seniors, Gracelyn Kane, Sarah Varner, and Zakheila Trice, have taken on leadership roles and are highly respected within the marching band.
Looking ahead, Mr. Dixon hopes to continue building the program and creating more exciting opportunities for students. He would like to plan a trip to Disney for the students and make it a regular tradition for the band. Mr. Dixon said, “We need more members to make this happen, but with the growth of this year, we are pretty close. The marching band has quadrupled in size in the last three years.”
Marching band, and band in general, is a very tight-knit group. They are a team that works together to share their art with the community. It is a family-like structure where students can learn new skills and participate in community events such as parades. The marching band is meaningful not only to the band teachers but also to the students. Overall, being in the marching band offers many amazing opportunities for any prospective students interested in joining.
This article was published as part of Ms. Dimoff’s Journalism class at Mount Union Area Senior High School.
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